Heungkuk Life Insurance said on the 5th, “Libero Kim Hae-ran has decided to end his career after the season in April.”
Kim Hae-ran started her professional volleyball career in 2002 by graduating from Masan Jeil Girls’ High School and joining the Korea Expressway Corporation. Afterwards, she moved to Heungkuk Life Insurance in the 2017-2018 season through KGC Ginseng Corporation and won her first trophy in the 2018-2019 season.
After her debut, Kim Hae-ran played on the court for 19 seasons except for the 2021-2022 season, when she briefly left the court to give birth to the 2023-2024 season. She also played in a total of 35 games in the 2022-2023 season, when she returned after giving birth.
Kim played in eight regular league games last season, posting a 40.32 percent receiving rate and 5.3 digs per set. He played in all of the first half due to knee injury but showed stable performance after returning to the team. He also played in the second and third matches of the championship game against Hyundai Engineering & Construction as the No. 1 libero in his team.
With Kim Hae-ran’s retirement, Heungkuk Life Insurance is expected to have Do and Park Su-yeon compete for the position as the main libero. However, it remains to be seen whether Do will show as much stability as Kim. Do was often anxious in receiving last season. Park has just changed her position from outside heater to libero. With Kim’s retirement, Heungkuk Life Insurance’s worries about libero are likely to deepen.
To make matters worse, Lee Ju-ah, a key middle blocker, also transferred to IBK Industrial Bank of Korea through a free agent contract. Lee took charge of Heungkuk Life Insurance along with Kim Soo-ji last season. Heungkuk Life Insurance is expected to fill Lee’s vacancy with Chinese player Hwang Ruili.
At an award ceremony held last month, Kim Yeon-koung announced that she would extend her active career. But at the same time, she also left a bone-in joke to the club. “I promised volleyball that Coach Marcello Avon Danza could win, but this year has been tough. I think I was too naive to believe what he said,” she said. “I will lead the team by leading by example. As far as I know, the club is making efforts to reinforce its players. I believe they will do well.”
However, Heungkuk Life Insurance’s off-season move was disappointing. It renewed contracts with internal FA players Kim Mi-yeon and Lee Won-jung, and recruited Choi Eun-ji to reinforce its position as outside heater, which had been criticized as weaknesses, but it was not a satisfactory outcome.
There was no clear reinforcement of power that “Volleyball Empress” Kim Yeon-koung earnestly shouted. Rather, there was a power leak. Attention is focusing on how Heungkuk Life and Kim Yeon-koung can overcome this difficulty.
BY: 토토사이트